#i mean i've barely made progress with the things that still need to happen but words are words right?

[pankomako]

dude not me thinking about post-gang war arc gang's bay aughghgh the character design ideas i have are so GOOOODDD

[dontbesadsanaexist]

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

Danceteacher!momo x Trainee!fem!reader

Warnings: bad language, mouth fucking, cunnulingus, smut, mention of sex, choking, friends?withbenefits

Word count: 3.4k

Summary: Momo has always acted weird towards you. Treating you more harshly than the other trainees. But what can possibly happen in an empty building, at night, when you started to show your brat side?

Nda: sorry I suck at summarizing 🫡🫡 (I promise the story is better)

*★*―――*★**★*―――*★**★*―――*★*

"Start again."

The music coming from the speakers was loud. Your body sweaty, clothes almost drenched. A few lights illuminated the room as opposed to the dark corridors that you could only see thanks to the half-opened door. One of them was flashing.

It's okay, your agence never put in much efforts for their groups anyway, always buying the bare minimum.

Your body moved on his own, despite the obvious tiredness visible on your face. Your movements almost reached perfection but still,

There she was with her angry face.

You stopped yourself when the sounds stopped. The dance practice room went silent again. A glance at her let you know that she was the one who paused the music.

"Same mistake, start again."

Your throat almost burned by the desire to say something. It's been hours since it started. You felt like you would never see the end, because there was nothing to change. You came to thought that she had a wicked pleasure to make you stay, knowing you couldn't say anything.

She tapped on her phone's screen. You didn't have time to recover. Your ears are sick of hearing the same sounds again and again. Your eyes dared to close, but you promise your leader you would correct the few mistakes you made, so you didn't let that happen. Instead, you restarted the same choreography.

An exasperated sigh left her lips as you almost trip on your own laces. It must have come undone during the training.

"Are you going to dance properly or should I already ask you manager to add hours for you at the end of every training day?"

"But I dance properly!"

Oups, came out on its own.

Your frustration and stress accumulated during the day heard in your replied. You didn't want to sound so disrespectful, but it was just too much. Watching all of your members leave just to stay here and make extra practice until you felt sweat slide down your body, no thanks you, if you could you would have gladly pass the offer.

"Excuse me?"

The next things coming out of your mouth were completely unexpected.

"Seriously, it's been like 4 hours since we started and you're still here saying there's something to fix when there obviously isn't."

At first she just seemed shocked by your sudden switch of behavior. But then, then, she aggressively slammed her phone on the table near her and tapped her right foot on the floor, corner of the lips trembling with angryness.

"Because you thought that i wanted to be here in the first place? Losing my time and sleep for a girl that can't reproduce a simple fucking dance?"

Okay, you had made her more angry that she already was.

"I never asked for extra help."

"See, that's your second problem. You need extra help. You suck at dancing. Everyone see it except you."

Ouch, it hurts. I mean, it would have hurt a lot more if it wasn't for your tiredness and growing angryness clouding your mind with thoughts you would never come across before. And you knew she was lying. She just saw you progress and had too much pride to admit that she was wrong. So now she put all the problem on your shoulders, and just expects you to go with it. That's what you thought, though.

You knew it wasn't true. But your fists clenched on their owns and your eyes watered. You weren't the sensible type but it was 10 p.m and you were just so done with it.

A thought crossed your mind, and your mouth was quicker to speak than you had time to comprehend what you were about to say.

"At least I've never been fired because I was too lazy to practice!"

She was shocked.

She definitely was.

Not by what you said, but by your sudden brattiness. You got some nerves to speak to her like that. She was at least 6 years older than you plus your dance teacher. She literally accepted to help you even though she was forced, but still. How dare you?

Something occurred. You heard an annoyed sound coming from her mouth then she walked towards you. A firm and straight walk. When she arrived at your level she didn't even dared to stop. She just grabbed your wrist, and dragged you with her.

She was walking way too fast. You were struggling to keep up the pace.

The entire building was empty. And since Momo had turned the lights of the room off you were both moving in the dark with, as only lighting, the flash coming from her phone. You soon arrived at a sliding door. You quickly read the inscription marked on it.

Bathroom, ladies only.

She forced you in it and harshly closed the door, creating a loud thump resonating inside.

"What are we doing here?" You dared to ask. She tilted her head to the side as if the respond was obvious.

"Do you think the way you talked to me back earlier was appropriate? Don't you think you need a little something to remind you that I am the idol here, that you're nothing but a trainee?"

She took you by the shoulders and made you enter an empty stall.

You were surely about to protest, if it wasn't for her to push you roughly on the wall. You let out a small whimper of pain and you hand came resting on you back where the impact has been made.

(You see, if anyone ever read that without context, they will surely be confused as to why she was so comfortable with touching you this way, if you were a trainee like the others. But the thing is, you weren't. To her eyes, you weren't just a simple trainee.

Let me explain:

The relationship that you and Momo shared was beyond weird. Everything started in the manager's office. You didn't even remember what you were doing here, nor how it happened. But one second, you were with momo waiting for him to arrive, and the next, your were against the desk, kissing her.

At first, it was simple make outs. In the bathroom or an empty closet, she was usually the one who initiated them. But then, it started to take a more serious turn. You would find yourself in her apartment when Nayeon was away. Or sometimes it was at your dorm (which was very risky but you both didn't care).

The first hook up was supposed to be the last one, in your head. That's what you told yourself at the end of every session. But she always finds a way to make you fall in her trap. I mean, who can resist the gorgeous and hot woman that Momo is?

The excuses that you would tell the girls from you dorm to go out were piling up, and the minutes spending with Momo were gradually transformed into hours. Hours of doing nothing but pure fucking.

But of course, you were coming after her career. That's why in Jyp's buildings, she was ignoring you. Like, completely ignoring you. She didn't even bother to throw a single glance at you. You understand how she remained clinging to her image, even though you were a bit disappointed that you were traited like any other trainee.

The only thing you didn't understand was the way she acted when you make a mistake. With the other girls from your group, she would just show them the correct movement. But with you, she would just look at you, and expect you to get the right move on your own. And when you didn't, it frustrated her. To a point where she would be so irritated she would just complains about you to your manager, as if it was your fault. And right now, it was one of those moment. But instead of calling the number she knows so well from you, she decided to take care of the problem on her own.)

You jaw ached when she grabbed it firmly to make you look at her. "So, what are you gonna do know hm? Are you gonna keep responding ? I can let you go if you politely apologize to me."

You looked at her dead in the eyes. You could apologize. But you're certainly not going to do that. She irritated you too much and you weren't going to let go of your pride.

"Go to hell." Your respond left even though she pressed your cheeks together making difficult for you to talk. Your hands tried to push her arm away, and that only made her grip on you stronger, to the point it started to hurt. Like really hurt.

She huffed as she expected an apoligize. She didn't think for you to put such an attitude towards her. Usually, you would obey her every command, like the good little trainee you were. This, this was none of that. And she didn't like it.

Your eyes landed on her other hand, which was going way too close to your face to your liking. Then, you felt two of her fingers pressing against your lips. You immediately sealed your mouth, without even knowing what she was going to do next. Of course, you could just submit to her, like always. But your pride was way too big for that.

"Open your mouth."

Her command felt harshful. You tried to shock your head as no, but she didn't take that as a respond. She forced past your entrance and the next thing you know, two of her fingers were deep in your mouth, almost reaching your throat.

Now your hands were desesperatly trying to get her grip off of you. You felt her fingers retired completely, just to push back in with full force.

And in continued like this.

Her digits reaching the far back of your throat.

Her breathing on your ear made you close your eyes tightly. "Isn't that a good idea? Fucking your mouth will make you learn how to shut it like how it's supposed to be."

Her deep chuckle when she heard you chocke send a shiver down your spine.

Each time her fingers would push in, spit would dripped down your mouth making a complete mess on your chin and neck.

It felt like hours before her mistrations stopped, which left you caughing with a hand rubbing your aching throat.

Momo smiled at your state. Her fingers were covered in your drool, almost reaching her wrist. She took you aback when she pushed your shoulders on the wall, her fingers replaced with her lips.

Your whines of rejection could be heard in the room which weren't really of rejection but you couldn't let her know she turned you on. Your nails digged them self on her shoulders to try and hurt her. But she didn't care really. A little girl like you isn't going to do much against her anyway.

She kissed you deeply, swallowing your whines and parting your lips. Just like before, you felt something slipping in your mouth. A wet, warm thing.

The feeling of her tongue against your own made you release a small whimper. The kiss left you breathless and panting, like every time you were alone with her.

"Enjoying it?" She teased you, but it wasn't funny for you. Your mouth opened to say something but she beat you to it.

"I didn't think you would be such a brat today. What happened to my good girl? That attitude you pulled me earlier has put you in so many troubles..."

She didn't let you respond. She never. Her hand wrapped around you neck and you felt a pressure on your throat, choking you a bit.

"How should I punish you? I've got so many ideas in mind..."

Okay, now your body was... betraying you.

A sudden wave of heat arose in your body at the thought of her touches. You didn't want to let her notice that the way she talked to you made your panties soaked, but at the same time the ache between your legs was starting to be bothering. You refused the thought of taking care of the problem yourself later in your bed. Her doing it for your was a better idea. And you know what, fuck it.

Your hands stopped trying to get her away from you, and instead, grab her waist and brought her closer. Momo looked at you with a confuse look. Your behavior was indeed weird.

"What it is n-"

"Kiss me"

Your request was followed by a small please that even you could barely hear. Her lips slowly turned into a smile, and she was quick to catch your mouth with her own. The previous painful pressure on your neck feels now deliciously pleasuring

The kiss felt even better than the one before now that you fully enjoy it. Her rosy lips that you would stare at so many times were now moving against yours, creating a delicious pressure.

"Didn't you want to punish me or something ?" You dared to ask her as your bratness was showing again.

"Just shut up please."

The wet sounds of lips touching each other echoed in the purple bathroom stall, such as small sighs of pleasure. You two would parted away from time to time, getting the minimum of oxygen in your lungs before diving into the other's warmth again.

Before everything started, a kiss from her would've been enough to make you melt in place. But now you had all freedom to do whatever you wanted, and your fingers tingled with the desire of more. Your hand slipped on the skin of her neck to her nape, before being stopped by a firm grip on your wrist.

Momo pushed her lips away from yours. A string of saliva connected your mouths for barely a second. She was glad to see her lipstick embellished the lower part of your face, the color suited you better, especially with those swollen lips of yours.

She observered you.

How your would bite your bottom lip, cheeks blushed by the lack of air. How your carbage would move up and down, breathlessly. The way you were shamlessly eye-fucking her, thigh clenching together. God, what a sigh.

The succeed in making you go from a brat to a mess had increased her ego. Her hand wandered around your face, thumb caressing your bottom lip and slightly playing with it. Her lips touched your cheeks, and traveled lower. The hand she wasn't holding immediately attached to her hair and pulled her locks as soon as you felt her warm breath on your neck. Of course everybody would be able to see all the marks she leaves on you, but she didn't care really. It's not like she's the one who is risking a futur career.

You sighed blissfully as she bit your neck, making your nails dig into her skull. Her hands were quick to undo your sweat pants, sliding it down and making you shiver from the cold air due to the lack of heating in the building. She tugged your T-shirt up and stuck it in your bra, not even bothering to remove it.

"Oh, look at this." Momo rapidly noticed the wet spot on your panties that you were desperately trying to hide, even though you couldn't.

She hummed in satisfaction and brushed her fingers softly against the frabric, before pulling it harshly towards her. The sudden movement made you yelp as you hands pushed her shoulders, but she was way stronger, and the grip she had on your thighs stopped you from whatever you were trying to do.

"Let's do this. I'm gonna eat you out. If you cum before I say you can it'll be the last time for 2 weeks, okay?" She asked, which basically wasn't even a question but more of an order.

Her being so bold had definitely done something to you. You nodded your head, wanting her to hurry up and ease the feeling you had that started to overwhelm you. She dropped a small peck on your lips, making your dizzy, and proceeded to kneel down. One swift movement and your panties were gone, letting her a full view of your dripping arousal. She placed your legs on her shoulders and her hands on your waist for support. That position could be quiet uncomfortable but not for Momo, thanks to the hours spending at the gym she found you rather light.

You whined as the only friction she gave you was marking you thighs.

"Momo don't do t-" Momo glaring at you was enough to shut you up and take whatever she wanted to give you. You're not in a position to protest anything, and she was already furious at you for thinking you could talk back.

She continued kissing your flesh for a minute, before her breath change place and she blew hot air on your wet crotch. You tried to squirm but couldn't move much because of the hard grip she had on your waist. Another whine almost came out of your throat, until you felt the tip of her tongue against your folds and instead you whimpered her name. Your hand gripped the toilet paper dispenser. The edges of it were rounded so you couldn't really hold on to it but it was still better than nothing.

Momo took your clit between her lips and slowly suck it. Your eyes closed instantly as you felt the pleasure starting to consume you. Her touch were so gentle it was almost torturing. Your body enveloped in a warmth that increased your desire for more. As if they had come to life, your thighs started to buck against Momo's mouth. It was miserable how you were practically rutting on her face.

Momo release your clit from her lips and let her tongue travel lower, until it was right in front of your entrance. Your hand grabbed her hair as soon as you felt her tongue slip inside of you. "S-shit Momo... Momo!" You chanted, too focused on the way she was moving, tasting you, to care about your volume.

Her hands withdrew from your waist to grab your thigh instead, guiding you on her tongue. Your hand runs through her dark hair. You attempted to push her even closer, even deeper inside you.

The flick of her tongue against that one particular spot made your hand involuntarily grasp her hair fiercely. She released a deep groan in your core at the death grip you had on her, creating vibrations that ascended up your mouth and turned into a loud sob.

Your walls clenched firmly around her tongue, your clit throbbing continually as the tip of her nose pressed against it.

You opened your eyes all of a sudden as you felt that your climax was near. Your stomach tighten, you knuckles turned white at the hold you had on the dispenser. When you looked down, you saw a version of Momo only you could (probably) ever see.

Her eyes were tight shut. Her mouth and chin covered with your arousal. Her rosy cheeks could suggest that she was the one having an orgasm. You bet she was enjoying it as much as you do.

She reopened her eyes, meeting your pleading gaze. "Please..." was the only thing understandable you could let out between broken cries and incoherent words. You were at the verge of crying. Your orgasm was just so closed.

Momo didn't seem to be affected by your desperate state. Because as soon as she felt your legs started trembling she pushed her head away, leaving you all confused and bothered. She wiped the mess you made on her face with her sleeve and stood up.

You have returned to an almost normal state when she turned the lock of the bathroom stall's door open.

"W-wait Momo y-you said-"

"I said I would allow you to cum if I felt like it. Which I don't really. So... Guess it's for next time?"

She stepped out of the stall and took a last look at your condition. You were on the floor, eyes watered, cheeks wet and red. She gave you a brief smirk before adding one last thing. "If you're not in the dance room in 10 minutes, I'll let your manager know about your very, very, bad behavior."

She was now completely gone. You were crying, sobbing and sniffing in your arms. She left you all alone, leaving you just enough time to put your clothes back on. This was so unfair. You did everything she told you to. She was ruthless! She took time to build up your pleasure just to leave at the end, making the denied orgasm even more painful.

You were too tired to keep crying, and also a bit afraid of Momo's threat. So you just stood up, cleaned yourself and get yourself dress again. Half an hour left before you could head back to your dorm. And it promised to be long...

*★*―――*★**★*―――*★**★*―――*★*

[ygodmyy20]

Opps this post got forgotten! But if I don't post it today when will I!?

Okay so, I've been thinking for awhile on the question: why do I like terumob and why did it take over my brain? What is it about it...what caught my interest. As someone who was very NOT into ships when i first got into mp100, why did I crashland into this one?

This post has been in progress for like....weeks now? Nearly a month? 3 months? Yea.

Okay so. Here we go. THOUGHTS! On terumob and why the fuck I like it. Below the cut.

Like I mentioned, when I first finished Mob Psycho 100 in June of this year I wasn't into any ship. I was actually REALLY NOT into ships. I really liked gen. I wanted to explore the characters and I loved the complex relationships between everyone but I didn't want it to be overshadowed by romance. I purposely steered clear of any and all ship art.

But then I started to see some TeruMob fanart and I was like "Aw man, they are so cute and squishy." And I started to like them....just a lil bit. ONLY A LITTLE BIT.

BUT then I read more Teru-centric fics, read Teru analysis' and then I was like. Oh shit, Teru is 100% so into Mob it's like....this kid has it bad. He has a major crush. And even on the rewatch I am like WOW yep, confirmed in my brain, Teru has it bad. The subtext of his pinning is JUST so there for me. I didn't even have to look hard for it. I suddenly was very in on the Teru-one-sidded part of the ship.

But here's the thing, I'm not a big fan of ships like that... feels too unrequited. Hard for me to really like it. I need to have some level of something from both sides. Just how I am.

So that still leaves the question.

When and how does Shiego liking Teru work? Is there any subtext for that or am I just making it all up because I want the ship to work for me?

(which also is fine ya'll, no judgement if you ship two characters that barely interact, thats the fun of fandom stuff!)

I mean, all things considered, Shigeo likes Tsubomi. Scratch that, he REALLY likes Tsubomi. Shiego loves very strongly, like all his emotions. And he definitely likes Teru, they are good friends, so I kept thinking: where and how does that cross into a crush to me, for these characters?

Teru cares a lot, he adores Shigeo—Shigeo is kind, he is powerful, he is everything Teru wants to be. But are there places where I see this same level of intensity from Shigeo?

Annnnnnnnd then I got to their fight in season 3.

Everything Shiego did to Teru was so pointed. So raw and angry. Like I said, I think Shigeo feels his feelings very strongly and, I don't know, just the fact that he PERSUED Teru to humiliate him EXACTLY in the same way again, tells me that their first meeting had an intense impact on him. We don't see a lot of his feelings on his meeting with Teru, besides the brief ??? in that episode. After meeting Teru, it's just...life goes on as normal for them. But deep down I don't think Shigeo ever really tackled his complex feelings about Teru and their first meeting.

So it all comes out, its all be stewing for AGES, and what comes out is mean. It's aggressive. It's almost sarcastic? It's what happens when we let things chew us up inside and comes out all twisted.

Teru evoked such a strong reaction from Shigeo, even if Shigeo didn't admit it or express it, that I can't help but think, after things have settled, after he has spent more time adjusting to his whole self...after they both take time to really examine themselves and grow....

....that Shigeo wouldn't develop stronger feelings for this boy who also turned his world upside down. Who made him feel such strong emotions, who changed his world too.

Teru was forever changed by meeting another esper his age.

I think Shiego was too.

And I think where I started to love them was after the finale, after Teru's acceptance of Shiego for who he was.

I don't want to pigeonhole any of the espers into only being able to date other espers. But I also....yes, Shiego is a normal kid, but he is also Shiego.

Teru is a person who understands the strength it takes to keep that power, who has seen Shiego at all sides. His best and his worst.

But gosh this scene....

OUGHGGH

JUST THROW ME IN A RIVER WHY DON"T YOU

Yeah this whole scene just.....just yea. OUGH.

But yeah I just feel like Teru's crush would only grow after that. He would see Shigeo as a person over an all powerful esper.

While I like to think Shigeo's would develop over time and them smack into him like a runaway freight train. Because Shigeo FEELS so strongly, for all his emotions. He feels sadness strongly, he feels love strongly, he feels anger strongly—he just feels everything SO strongly. That is why he is powerful, that is why he is who he is, that is why ??? became what it is.

Anyway. My thoughts have ended and that's all i got. Thanks for coming to my ted talk of rambling mess that has been in progress for months that I realized whelp with the anniversary of the end of S3 nearly here, mind as well post it.

[varpusvaras]

New note

Marked five files/reports so far for further reading

All groups that have previously operated on the area do not match by their motive or by what they are delivering; cannot be striked through yet

Strava -> possible operator? name repeats in many reports, need further information

Need to find out if

The door slid open. Fox wasn't fast enough to shut the datapad before whoever it was had already seen the glow of the screen in the dark.

"Really?" It was Thire. Fox didn't need to turn his head to see.

"Really", he answered, and turned to look anyway. Thire hadn't switched the lights on in the room yet, but even against the light coming from the hallway behind him, Fox could see that he looked kind of disappointed. "Did Stone make you come here?"

"Stone, Thorn, Index, who didn't?" Thire asked. He hadn't yet stepped in, and despite the expression on his face and the tone of his voice, Fox could see that he was a bit nervous. It made sense. Thire had not been made a Commander yet, even thought the promotion was pretty much imminent, which meant that Fox was still his superior officer in a way that he wasn't for Thorn and Stone.

Which meant that Fox needed to make the decision for him.

"Come in and shut the door", he said. "And switch on the lights."

He squinted his eyes when the bright, yellow-tinted light flickered on. It didn't hurt as much as it did a couple of days ago, at the very least, so there was some progress. Fox decided not to say that out loud, though.

Thire took the one chair they had in their bunk room, and positioned it right in front of Fox's cot.

"Have you found anything?" He asked. Either he didn't feel comfortable admonishing Fox further, or he wanted to get to the point. Either option was good right now in Fox's book.

"Not too much", Fox admitted. "Though that's not a surprise, I've barely made a dent to the files. There's a lot of them."

Thire nodded, and then hesitated for a second, before speaking again.

"Can I help?" He asked. "I've done my work for the night, and Index told me that I need to take a sleep shift today, so I don't have anything better to do."

"A sleep shift means you should be sleeping."

"And having a concussions means you shouldn't be working." Thire looked almost suprised at this own words. "Sorry, Sir."

"No, you're correct", Fox said. "I'd much rather take that from you than from Thorn or Stone. Is Thorn back yet?"

"No." Thire shook his head. "I talked with him maybe an hour ago. He was still a bit...grumpy?"

"I see." Perhaps Index should call Thorn in for a sleep shift as well. It wasn't that Fox expected him to be in a good mood all the time, but he had been tense and annoyed at pretty much everything for the past two days. Fox really needed to get back to work, if having to take on his duties as well caused this to happen to his Commanders.

Thire cleared his throat.

"Can I get the files?" He asked.

"Right. I'll send them over." Fox opened up his messages. "I've marked the ones I have already read, so you don't need to bother with those."

"Thank you." They lapsed into a silence as the files transferred to Thire's datapad, and it continued as they both got into reading. It wasn't a bad silence, though. Fox could see that Thire was just tired, and didn't wish to speak, and Fox felt very much the same. It was still nice, to have someone in the same room working with him. Fox had never done too well with just silence, but that was the case for most of the clones. It just happened when you grew up having someone around you constantly.

He briefly thought of Cody and the others. Did they ever have to do things like this? Most likely, though Fox assumed it was reading over old battle reports and strategies, more than combing through reports of crimes from the past few decades. The former was something they were all familiar with, at the very least. Fox had not been trained to be a Security Officer, as there had been no demand for such while they had been in training, as far as he had understood it. The Guard was something that had been created precisely at the moment the war had started, and Fox had been pushed into the role.

Fox did understand why: the Chancellor and the Senate wanted a good defense force on the Capital, and they had picked the troopers that had the highest marks for the job. Understanding that still didn't erase the feeling of him being wasted.

His train of thought was interrupted with Thire making a noise. Fox lifted his eyes to see him grimace at this datapad.

"What is it?" He asked. Thire glanced at Fox, then back at whatever he was reading.

"Nothing", he said. "This report is just...a bit unsettling? Sounds more like some horror story than a report."

Fox wasn't exactly suprised. The Guard had just barely started to move down to the lower levels, and they had all already seen pretty gruesome things. There was bound to be more of that in the reports.

"Was there anything relevant for this case?" He asked.

Thire scowled at his screen.

"Not that I saw", he said. "...can I share this with Here and the others? They've started to collect whatever creepy stories they have heard. They would love this."

Thire didn't sound overtly enthusiastic himself, which was a bit surprising. Fox had not taken him for someone who was spooked easily.

"Sure", he said. "But tell them that they cannot spread any personal information of anyone mentioned in the report."

"Of course", Thire said. He typed something quickly, and then seemed to move on to the next report, if the slight loosening of his expression meant anything.

The silence lasted for a few minutes more.

Then both of their commlinks went off.

Thire reached his first.

"It's an emergency notification", he said. "From the medbay."

Concussion be damned. Index wasn't someone who used the emergency notifications for no good reason. Fox got out of his cot, and grabbed his boots.

"Let's go", he said. Thire didn't need to be told twice.

[joka13]

FANFICTION: Weasley Twins x Reader (Slytherin Girl) - Part 13

WARNINGS: small amount of swearing

You're in Defense Against the Dark Arts. As usual, you are reading out of that terrible book that Professor Umbridge has assigned. You rest your chin in your hand. Your eyes lazily move down the paragraphs and soon you find yourself drifting off.

You jerk awake when something slaps the edge of your desk. You look up to see Umbridge smiling down at you.

"Sorry, Professor," you apologize. "Haven't been getting enough sleep."

She takes her hand off your desk. "What could possibly be keeping you from getting enough sleep?" she asks in her high, perky voice.

You don't know how to answer her question honestly without revealing that you've been sneaking out late every night to help Fred and George. Umbridge waits patiently by your desk for your response.

"Nightmares," you eventually reply. It's not entirely a lie.

"Ah," is all Umbridge says in response. Though she's still smiling, she appears to be disappointed that she couldn't get you to give away your secret, but, then again, how could she know? Maybe she assumes you are hiding something because you're good friends with the Weasley twins. They're always "up to no good", as every Hogwarts staff member would say. Professor Umbridge starts to walk away.

George leans over. "Probably about her, am I right?" he snickers.

Before you can reply, Umbridge stops half way to her desk. Did she hear George's comment?

"Detention, Mr. Weasley," she says without turning around.

"What?" Fred, who was also falling asleep, quickly sits up. Umbridge continues toward her desk.

"Not you," George growls. He sighs heavily in frustration.

"Aw, man. Sorry about that," you sympathize.

"It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry it happened all the same. I wouldn't want to spend any time out of class with that woman," you whisper.

"I wouldn't want to spend any time with that woman, period," Fred says. "What'd you do, George?"

"Not anything that deserves detention!" he spits.

You don't like seeing George upset. You search for something to say to change the subject.

"Don't we have a Hogsmeade trip coming up at the end of the week?" you ask. You're glad to see George's expression soften.

"Yeah, that's right!" says Fred. "I can't wait. I've been needing a break from classes."

"I think we all need a break. And not just from classes if you catch my meaning."

"Ah, yes, yes. We have been working very hard. Especially you, y/n."

"You should come to Hogsmeade with Fred and I," George says. "Let us treat you."

You grin. "Alright... thanks." You don't know who else you'd go to Hogsmeade with, other than Hermione, but she's got her own thing with Harry and Ron that you don't want to invade.

"No, thank you!" Fred gives you a dashing smile. You feel your face grow warm. "We've never made as much progress in a whole year!"

You're surprised he feels this way. You feel like you've only barely made progress, but you don't say as much. "You know... I often think the two of you could be at the top of your classes if you really cared. You are both very smart and completely capable."

Fred gasps theatrically. "Bloody hell, did you hear that, George?"

"Sure did, Fred." George tips his head to the side and smiles crookedly. "The great y/n y/l/n just called us smart."

You laugh out loud, then quickly cover your mouth with your hands. You look over at Umbridge. Behind her desk, scribbling away with her pink feathered quill, the corner of her mouth twitches. You wait for her to call your name, but she remains focused on whatever she's writing.

"I think she has a thing for Slytherins," George whispers.

"Pfft. She definitely doesn't have a thing for me."

"She does dislike you more than other Slytherins, but you're still a Slytherin. I'm surprised I haven't gotten detention yet," says Fred.

"Yeah. Don't jinx it," George grumbles.

That night during dinner, while George is in detention, you and Fred sit with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Where's Georgie at?" Ron asks through a mouthful of food.

"Detention," Fred answers. "By Umbridge."

Ron swallows thickly and shakes his head. "A terrible fate indeed." He makes eye contact with Harry who tucks his hands underneath the table.

Hermione clears her throat. "So, um, what do you think of her, y/n? Professor Umbridge I mean."

You shrug your shoulders. "Oh, I dunno. She's just another strict teacher. Reminds me of Snape... setting aside all of the smiling and pink clothing, of course."

"Has she inspected any of your classes yet?"

"Inspected?"

"Yeah," says Ron. "She's been going around with a clipboard. Checking up on the teachers and such."

"She's not just a teacher, you know," Hermione explains to you. "She's here representing the Ministry of Magic. Fudge thinks Dumbledore is no longer mentally sane, so he sent Umbridge to make sure Hogwarts is still adequate enough for students to attend... or something like that."

"She used the word 'safer' to describe her method of teaching," you say.

Ron rolls his eyes. "Right. Because the way Hogwarts does it is so dangerous!" he says sarcastically.

"I don't know about all of you, but I'm not learning anything from her," Harry adds. "At least, not anything useful."

"I've learned that I hate the color pink," Fred says. You laugh.

"This is serious," says Harry, unamused. You listen intently. You don't often get to hear from Harry because he's usually so quiet. "We need a real Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Even the imposter we had last year was better than Umbridge. Sure, he was planning to have me killed the entire time, but I still learned some things during his classes." Your mouth hangs slightly open in disbelief. You're taken back by how casually he can talk about last year's events. "How are we supposed to defend ourselves against Voldemort and his followers if we don't know how?"

There's a startlingly loud clashing that causes everyone but Harry to jump in their seats. You realize that you had absentmindedly let your fork slip out of your grasp and onto your plate.

"Sorry," you chuckle shakily, still unsettled by Harry's mentioning the Dark Lord's name. Fred watches you with concern.

"So how about that Hogsmeade trip this weekend?" Hermione blurts nervously. "I hear The Three Broomsticks has this new drink..."

Fred leans in closer to you. "You alright?" he whispers so only you can hear it past Hermione's rambling.

You nod and give him a weak smile. "I... just wasn't expecting that."

Fred smiles back apologetically. "Harry doesn't give a damn when it comes to being discreet about You-Know-Who."

"I can see that."

"Yeah..." Fred stares at his empty plate for a minute in thought. Then he looks up at you excitedly. "Hey, you wanna get out of here? I have something I want to show you."

You grin, the feeling of suspense already gathering inside of you. "Sure... but shouldn't we wait for George?"

Fred waves a hand of dismissal. "It'll be fast."

After a moment of hesitation, you agree. You say goodnight to the others, gathering your things. Once you're on your feet, Fred takes you by the hand.

[koqabear]

okay i wanted to ask, because i see you writing such long fics but i can barely pull myself together to write this bomb-ass 20k word fic, how do approach a fic you know is going to be a long one in a way that you don't feel intimidated by it, or do you still get intimidated by it and just try and push through it?

okay so first off, thank you so much for sending me this ask �� you literally forced me to go through my writing process and caused me to make a huge breakthrough with one of my stories alfkgh

anyways, i'll try to be as thorough and clear as i can be with my process, i hope this helps! (but also im so sorry once i started i couldn't stop)

i think my process can be best described with three fics; Only You, Darling (40k), Killer Instinct (37K), and Memories We Made (unfinished but estimated to be over 30k.). With each story, I knew that they were going to be long, but mostly because I went in with the approach that it has to be long in order for the story to be executed right; characters have to be written thoroughly, and there are certain scenes that need to be written for the plot/character to progress-- like, if it's not written in, the story could lose those small details that make the fic feel more... alive, if that makes sense?

The most important part is making an outline! I know that's probably obvious, but outlines can seriously vary; like with OYD and MWM, I have a whole doc dedicated to the fic. I'm gonna show you what a bit of my OYD planning looks like, please don't point out how genuinely unhinged it is 😭😭😭 (so.. spoilers for OYD + fun fact it was gonna be Sunghoon instead of Jaemin in the story originally hehe)

This is an example of what my outlines can look like; but, it only gets like this as i write-- the first pic is my outline filled with things i added as i wrote OYD such as characteristics/important notes/things i wanna edit, and the second pic is what i started out with.

the first thing i do is brainstorm the bare basics of the plot; what kind of story is it, and what do i want to happen in it? you can see that i separated the story into the key plot points/arcs; and within each one, i also put how i wanted them to begin and end. (the numbers are the wc for each arc alskhg)

the hard part comes in when you're filling these arcs/key points in. because now the big question is, how do you get there? for example, during the first act of OYD, i wanted to establish beomjun's relationship with the mc, and end it off by having the two work together. but in order to do that, i decided to include scenes that showed yeonjun's relationship with the mc, and then beomgyu's relationship with her. now that i had the foundation, i allowed the two to interact; that let me establish beomjun's relationship with each other, and let them realize they had a common goal.

last, you add a catalyst (a character, a situation, etc.) that can get you to your end goal; the catalyst being jaemin, which brought the two to work together out of jealousy-- and that's how i was able to fill in that key point.

then i just repeated that process for all arcs! add scenes that elaborate on key points, then add a catalyst that can take you to the end!

another thing i do when plotting for my stories is record myself brainstorming! i let myself ramble and talk about the plot out loud, and that's usually how i run into plot holes/issues. i kinda let myself figure it out in real time, and once i've figured the plot out, i listen back to it and write it down. (i have voice recordings for OYD and MWM. MWM is 48 mins, if that gives you a gist of what i mean by like... brainstorming. and half of it is straight up fucking nonsense. just let out ideas, details about the characters, scenes you'd like to write, anything. it lets you become more familiar and comfortable with your story, if that even makes sense.)

also! whenever i'm writing but get tired and decide to take a break, i add a quick want to add note at the bottom; that's what the weird little spiel up there in the second pic is. it's where i wrote down the ending scene because i had a super specific idea of what i wanted and how i wanted it to happen. if you get any scene ideas like that for your fic, write them down!! there's a chance that you might forget about it/write it differently if you don't; plus, it could even help you add things in that could make the transition into the scene super smooth.

OYD was honestly a bit intimidating for me when i wrote it, because i knew that it had to be extremely detailed and long. that's why i made sure to properly plan things out, that way so i didn't forget anything that could skew the execution. but one of the biggest tips is that you should brainstorm scenes you want to add in each key point, that way you don't feel as intimidated when writing-- because now you have a guide, yk? I'd love to show how my MWM outline looks like, but the fic isn't even out yet 😭 but it's literally a scene-by-scene outline of how i want the story to go! now all i have to do is flesh out the said scenes :)

then there's fics like killer instinct. i went into that with pure vibes, no outline, no planning; more of a mental outline, if anything. so if you find the idea of the whole written outline + scene & key points boring/not for you, i'd still suggest to get the bare basics down; but what i did with killer instinct was that i brainstormed as i went, and added small notes to keep track of important things so i wouldn't screw with continuity-- age and time is pretty important in that story, and i kid you not this is the only thing i had for killer instinct outline wise (bc im not counting my doc of mma notes.)

but for killer instinct, i kinda winged it; i knew what the general plot was, but allowed myself to have fun on how to get there. the only thing i will say though, is that with every scene, you should try to plan out the next one-- like, intro to killer instinct is introducing taegyu, then i'll introduce the mc. then i'll introduce the world and background. and now that i have a foundation, i'll add extra scenes, then a catalyst! this leads into the main conflict, then y'know the rest. but instead of planning it out bit by bit, i kinda let myself go with the flow...? it also let me be a lot less intimidated by the fact that I knew the story would have to be long.

as for the story i had a big breakthrough with, i'm definitely a bit intimidated by it! i know it has to be intricate and emotional and intense, so in order to help with that, i've made playlists to get me in the correct mood, watch shows, read other fics, anything to help me get comfortable with the genre and spark inspiration. I'm currently winging it as well.... but have three key points im sticking to-- it's gonna sound a bit confusing and vague but it's like... add foundation + the male lead is introduced -> background is given to let ppl know motivations and stuff -> final scene. and whenever i run into an issue, i brainstorm and try to get to the root of why im stuck. like, is it plot, the character, or the scene? in this case it was all three so. pray for me.

anyways. i hope this helped and im so sorry if it didn't 😭😭😭 because then that just means u read this painfully messy explanation for nothing. but when writing long fics, pleeeaseee make sure to take your time with it-- if nothing's working, give it time and don't force yourself to write whatever! (mwm has been in my wip for a solid like. year..? but this is a rare case plus im insane)

and if your word count ends up surpassing/being under than what you originally expected, don't panic! (killer instinct was estimated at 20-25k. so.) sometimes certain scenes just aren't necessary, and other times, you find that you may need to elaborate more in order to make things work.

im seriously wishing you luck on your project!! and if you found this somehow did help and have more questions, don't hesitate to ask! oh and if you found something i said confusing (bc i do have the tendency to not make sense) pls lmk and i'll try to clear it up asdglsh 😭

[elvenbeard]

2077, April

"You really think I can make it, survive this?"

"'Course you can. I mean, you did already die and come back once, didn't ya?"

The chance of a lifetime the Konpeki Plaza Heist should have been turned Vince's existence into a living nightmare. Going from "just living, day by day" to "sheer survival, at all costs" in the manner of moments and following a row of bad decisions made by everyone involved, this was now definitely his last chance to get his life back on the right track. A second chance, after so many other second chances he'd already botched... while the one who would've really deserved another shot was now gone from Vince's life forever.

Jackie, the one person he had never regretted to trust in, who had never let him down, helped him out of the greatest messes, wouldn't be at his side through his biggest challenge so far. Vince would often lie awake at night wondering "What if he'd just kept the damn biochip? Would he be here now, instead of me? Why am I still here when he'd deserved it so much more?"

But then again... Jackie wouldn't have deserved Johnny Silverhand, Vince's newly acquired brain parasite from days long gone, unwanted voice of unreason, and perpetual threat to his mere existence.

Vince was dying, losing himself, little by little, day by day, after it had taken him ten long years to get to a point of self-acceptance and recognizing his strengths, desires, what he truly wanted from life. It was the cruelest irony of fate imaginable.

Misty's words accompanied him through his darkest moments: as long as your heart's still beating, there is hope.

Vince never wanted to be a legend... but for Jackie's sake, he'd make sure everyone would remember their names. He'd survive this, get rid of the Relic, of the terrorist in his brain, and make it out alive. No matter the cost.

Vince through the years (7/9)

A handful of before and after screenshots this time:

Some slight colour adjustments, and a little Relic-like glitch effect like it happens to Johnny whenever he's visible!

Also these two didn't make it to the final set, but I still really love the flying sparks effect :O These are completely vanilla, done in vanilla Photomode without path tracing. There's a lot of particle effects going on at Afterlife that render very interestingly sometimes (I think only since the graphics update though, since pics in Photomode take a moment to render, creating this motion blur/ long exposure effect). Sometimes this a bit annoying when you want to go for a relatively clean shot, but these looked really kinda cool for once xD

I've also been playing around a lot with a free filter plugin (search for GMIC) for Photoshop that has some really nice glitch effects, chromatic abberation, amongst many many many others :o If you don't know it and use Photoshop (although I think there are versions for other programs available as well!), I can definitely recommend it!

Now, to what I wrote above the cut, briefly. This is a relatively short post compared to all others in the series cause it's obviously the one aligning with what canonically happens in game and there's no need to retell all that in great detail xD What I wanted to focus on though was Vince's shift of mind between pre-Heist and post-Heist.

Before the heist, when Dex asks him what he wants, a quiet life or a blaze of glory, Vince is internally leaning more to a quiet life. Assuming though that that's not what Dex would wanna hear, probably, he deflects, gives him no clear answer. But yes, after having to run away from home, struggling on the street, busting his ass for Arasaka and barely making it out of all of that alive, had it not been for Jackie, he has no intentions of just throwing all his growth and progress away by blowing himself up in some daredevil endeavour. He's reached a point where he genuinely likes himself, his body, his life, and while he's not perfect, still in recovery from his time at Arasaka, and has done messed up things to get here, he would've been content with just small-time, low-risk merc work for the years to come.

With Jackie gone though, who has been a constant guidance over the last 10 years, with everything that rains down on Vince during the post-Konpeki shitstorm, I think this would change. He's being told "you're gonna lose yourself, forget who you are", "the body you literally shaped after your own wishes will soon be Johnny's", whom he cannot stand, no one wants to work with him initially after such a legendary failure, he has "a few weeks, at most" left to live... fuck all that, so hard. He's gonna fight tooth and nail to make it out of it alive, forget the quiet life.

He's gonna make sure as hell that, if all ends up being in vain, people will remember him and that he didn't settle for the easy way out. If he has to die, he'll do so standing - maybe scared, but head held high. Cause everything else would be a disservice to how far both he and Jackie have come together, to who he is at his core: a rebellious kid who once rather would've taken on a whole Valentino gang on his own instead of calling his corpo mother for help, someone who quit his secure job because he refused to keep taking the abuse from his boss, who risked his life for his best friend despite sending himself down a spiral of despair in the aftermath. He's not scared of getting his hands dirty, of forging his own path (alone, if need be), and of taking risks if he thinks they're worth it for himself or the people he's loyal to.

[gloriouspiratenacho]

An Update

On Character AI:

Nobunaga is currently in progress. So far the bare bones model is doing pretty well! I still need to sit down an flesh it out more. See if I can capture some of his mannerisms.

Kicho is also seemingly doing pretty well? I'm going to leave him as a Work in Progress until I get further in his route, so some minor changes may happen. But he is currently available, regardless.

I've also been testing on other sites.

Character AI is great: it's free, and the characters really do feel very humanlike sometimes. But AI technology is new, and I feel it's worthwhile to check out the competition periodically, and make sure there isn't something better.

Reviews for new sites below:

Poe.com

Pros:

The bot builder can pick which LLM (ai model) is running the bot, as well as adjust the temperature. (Temperature controls how faithful and boring the responses will be vs how creative and possibly nonsensical.

Depending on the model, there may not be a filter.

Cons

Not free. You do get a fair amount of free daily messages though. But depending on the Ai model, you may run through them fast. I've picked a lower token model to get more messages from my bots, which also happens to be filterless.

Not meant for roleplay. Less rp bots, not as easy to build a rp bot.

Bots have to have unique names. So the naming on this site can get really nutty.

I've copied over Mitsuhide and Motonari from character Ai to test. Motonari has been absolutely fabulous. The behavior is there. He takes initiative to come up with new things. The replies are a bit long sometimes. Mitsuhide hasn't fared as well. The personality is just not where I want it. Character AI definitely has a better conversational model. I'll go ahead and make Motonari public if anyone wants to explore. I'll keep working on Mitsuhide.

Figgs.ai

Pros:

Completely and utterly free.

No filter.

Feels pretty close to character Ai in the way it works and replies.

Made for characters and roleplay.

Bots are more faithful to their programming.

Cons:

No filter. (which means it's full of horrifying porn bots)

The site is brand new, like only a couple of months old. They have a lot of things they are still trying to figure out. The site isn't as streamlined as it could be. They are working on it.

Can't delete bots you tried on a whim (yet)

When viewing your previous chats, you can't tell which is which. (no preview)

Not quite as conversational as character Ai. Bots seem like they do better with more direction.

I can just copy things directly from character Ai and drop them in the appropriate fields, it's super easy to build here. They don't have a character building guide yet, but luckily, I don't need to change anything. Unfortunately, my perfectly SFW character Ai bots are getting flagged as NSFW for some reason, so... In order to find my bots, be ready for some porn bots. 😅 As for behavior, I'm also not pleased with how Mitsuhide came out on here either. I'm still working on him. I moved over my OC Yandere Assassin, who is working very well, and two of my banned bots that were some of my favorites on character Ai. They are also working pretty well. The thing I have discovered is that you NEED a scenario for the bot to work well. All 3 that do okay? They have a mission. Mitsuhide does not, because I was leaving it up to the user to create the scenario, or not, and just have a fun chat with him. So I might have to give him a scene to work with. No scene, and the bot just keeps politely asking what you want to talk about, what you want to do, and about the weather. Just like Poe, Figgs isn't as good at conversation, and Mitsuhide's personality just isn't where I want it yet. Still working on it. WHAT FIGGS IS GOOD AT: slow burn romance. I put Motonari on there to test, and it was INCREDIBLY HARD to get him to fall in love with you.... Which is exactly how it should be. I had to work very hard to earn his trust. So if you get mad that all the characters at character ai fall in love after 2 interactions, this might be a better alternative. And lastly, it's a really new website. They are still working on it. There's no character guide, and some (most) of the bots are very, very badly built. If you try one out and it's awful, it probably isn't the website's fault. It's just a badly built bot. The Gale from Baldur's Gate 3 I tried was excellent. My bots are pretty good too (though Mitsuhide needs some work.)

I'm considering trying Yodayo.

Not free, but the bots seem decent, and you get a pretty good amount of free daily conversations, and I think it was actually even pretty affordable if you wanted to pay. I haven't built on there yet. You'll want to pick "Tavern" to chat. Unfiltered, so beware of porn.

If you know of any character Ai alternatives I should try, hit me up!

[fox-from-fairytale]

Doesn't matter if I already know how it ends, this game will never fail to make me cry.

It's so good that I'd replay it even if I've just finished it, but thankfully there are the other seasons. The thing is, the first one really is the best one. I've always found all the characters so well written and the story is so compelling, even if there are some awkward moments. Couldn't Clem kill the walker with the bat before trying to take the gun/keys? Why didn't the bandits follow Lee and Mark through the open fence? Did Ben really not see the walkers on the other side of the door? Still, those are little things compared to everything else.

The first time I was so focused on Clementine that most of the characters were just background noise to me, but this time I had the possibility to appreciate more of the game since I already knew it, and who shined the most was Lilly. I love that woman for both her good and bad traits, and I'm afraid to replay TFS now lmao 😰

It was a bit annoying how the game seems to try and antagonise her through the other characters bitching about her, but it makes sense since that's something that of course would happen to the only person with the guts to distribute food rations. But still, having Lee as the only one who can say something positive about her and what she has done when the player has absolutely no idea about how things are in the group because it's the beginning of the episode? Lmao fuck you. Also, why does she accuse Carley but if you save Doug she kills him as a mistake? Let my woman show no remorse towards both of them.

She's already hurt for losing the only family she had, so losing the other thing she was protecting so desperately because someone within the group betrayed them is the last nail in the coffin, along with being dismissed while she was trying to find out who did it. I'm not saying it was right to kill Carley/try to kill Ben (who did what he did for understandable reasons from his side), but I still see why she snapped and I can't hate her for it.

It's a pity the game gets rid of her, because seeing someone who still didn't lose her humanity (sure, she doesn’t want other mouths to feed, which should be obvious why since she is the one giving food and knowing they can barely survive with what they can find, but she shows it when she doesn't agree with Kenny if he says that Lee made a mistake putting the girl in Macon out of her misery or when she doesn't want to steal from the stranger - she doesn't want to bear the weight of more people because it would be impossible to take care of them too and she prioritise her family and then her group, but this doesn’t mean she wants to survive on other people's expenses, which, ergh... kinda changes) doing something so ruthless it's so interesting, and I would have loved to see her progression through the game. I guess we do in TFS, but at the moment I'm torn about what they did with her in that season... Also, I simply wanted more of her in the game lmao

Protecting Duck and Katjaa as much as I could + trying to save Larry was a good combo for Kenny, I genuinely think those choices gave me the best of him. I like to make fun of him for being a pain in the ass if you agree with him about everything but a single choice is what makes him despise you and even avoid to save your ass when you need, but I really liked how things evolved in the final episode.

Kenny isn't a bad person, no one at the motor inn and who can join the group later on is, and killing someone (who at the moment is defenceless) because it's what you think is the right thing to do to protect yourself takes quite a lot, and Lee not helping him surely would make him feel like being left alone in such a hard moment and would divide them. But in the last episode, after seeing the worst of him (I mean, I believe that's in s2, but that's another story) because of his loss, the fact that he comes around when Clem is taken and treats you as a pal and uses the last bullet for Ben? I loved that, I think it showed the best of him. I thought he was going to be an asshole till the end, but I'm glad I can be on Lilly's side without having to be hated by Kenny for the whole season. I still loved to kick his ass in the third episode though lmao

I've made some pretty different choices compared to the first time, putting more thoughts behind them, especially when it came down to end someone's life.

Lee is a man who killed before it was necessary to survive, but it wasn't premeditated (or so I believe at least), and still has the heart to take care of a random kid as if she was his own. In the end, I only made him kill the girl at the motor inn who was bitten, the one screaming in Macon, and the stranger. Following this, I didn't let Clementine shoot him, and I'm glad the game made me give the actual reason I thought about: killing changes you, and I don't think a parent (that's who he is in the end) would make their child go through that, especially when said parent knows what it's like, and not only after the apocalypse.

It's clear that in the world she lives in she'll end up doing it, but it wasn't necessary to her safety, and Lee is no coward, and I like to think that he would keep prioritising Clementine over himself even in such a moment. Yes, it's sad for Lee, and Clementine surely is going to regret this, but I wanted to make the choice as Lee, not as the player nor as Clem.

These aren't all my thoughts on the game but the rambling got a bit too long, so I'm going to end it with the love of my life being pissed:

[corvid-language-library]

2024 Goals Monthly Check-In

I actually didn't do this last month because I was ill all of February and didn't make much/any progress with anything so I felt it was kinda pointless 😅 Let's see where I'm at now!

Japanese

1) Reach ~N3 level - I've not really been focusing on this so much. I've started using HelloTalk again and occasionally trying to learn a little new N3 grammar/kanji/vocab, but I should probably study in a more focused way.

2) Learn 10 songs by heart to a level where I could sing them at karaoke - Oh yeah I haven't worked on this at all, I kinda forgot it was a thing lmao

3) Finish reading another book of short stories - No progress made whoops. I try to read articles on Todai/NHK Easy a bit more but I've not touched my short story book.

4) Finish both Minna No Nihongo books - I'm about halfway through unit 11, so I'm a little behind but not too much. Hoping to finish unit 11 tonight and unit 12 at some point this week, but we'll see what happens!

Norwegian

1) Read at least 2 books in Norwegian - Not started yet

2) Maintain an overall B2/C1 level - I think I'm maintaining, but I need to immerse more for sure

3) Finish Enjoy Norwegian textbook - I've completed unit 2 so I'm a little behind where I wanted to be, but I should be able to catch up relatively easily.

Life in Japan Goals

As with last time, I'm just gonna focus on the goals where I've made progress rather than listing all 11. So:

1) Get my hair cut - Did it! And it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be :D

4) Have a 10-minute conversation with a native speaker in Japanese that’s not an italki lesson - I managed to chat with the hairdresser, so I can definitely say I did this!

6) Go to the dentist - I've booked an appointment and I'll be going next Monday. Absolutely terrified :D

7) Go to a prefecture I haven’t been to before - I went to Tochigi last weekend!

11) Be able to point to every prefecture on a map and name their capital cities - I can still more or less do this, but I sometimes mix up some prefectures or can't quite remember a capital

Non-language

1) Read 36 books - I've read 11/36 books, which means I'm 3 books ahead of schedule.

2) Complete a first draft of a novel manuscript - no progress made lol

3) Comfortable two-block oversplit with back bend - my oversplits are there but they feel very tight and not comfortable, so I need to work more on them.

4) Consistently hold a handstand for 5 seconds - I can barely balance on my hands at all atm lmao but I'll keep trying

5) Noticeably improve my demi pointe - I'm using the strength in my feet a lot more than I used to but I'm not getting much higher. I'll keep at it!

Health/diet goals under the cut:

Diet & health goals

1) Tackle my diet soda and sugar addictions - I've come a long way with the binge eating! I bought a multipack of chocolate marshmallow biscuits and managed to just take one with me to work every day instead of sitting and binging the whole lot. And right now I have a family-sized bag of mini eggs in my cupboard and I'm managing to eat a controlled set portion each day. I still mess up my diet sometimes, but I'm very happy with how I'm doing!

Diet soda is still a huge problem though lol

2) Slim down enough that none of my clothes are tight anymore - I look and feel SO much better about myself! For ages I've not wanted to dress up nicely because I felt like I looked frumpy or chubby or shapeless in my nice outfits. But when I was packing for Utsunomiya, I tried on all my cute outfits and I thought they looked good! I still want to lose a bit more so that I can see my abs, but I'm really happy with my progress here.

[gayweedanimal]

Since I gotta be up for work in like 3 hours and can't sleep I might as well talk new years resolutions. Here's mine:

Long ass post so I'm readmore

Read every day: I've been collecting books for a while now and have a huge backlog of super interesting stuff to read. The only thing holding me back is making time to do it.

Write every day: Similarly, I have too many half baked projects/ideas that I need to actually finish. The perfectionist in me has been keeping me from finishing things for years, and for what? Fear of putting out something bad? Some of my favorite things in the world are bad. I already put out bad art all the time, and I love it. I've been struggling with this part of myself for far too long and it's time for it to die.

Organize my information better: I'm a notorious note-taker, but they're always very disjointed and arcane. So I guess that means I'm a bad note-taker. I've been using Obsidian more and more over the last few months and been building better information collection habits to use it to its full potential. Sometimes the first step is just to accept that your memory is shitty and learn to efficiently externalize things. Building off of that...

Manage my time better: I have so much shit going on at any one time it's often overwhelming. ADHD and my various neuroses certainly don't help. I've been doing various things to work on this but I need to stick to them better.

Finish Somnium: I put out a whole one (1) episode last year because I dreamt too big with my episode plans and didn't have the tools to bring them to fruition the way I wanted to - I need to push myself to actually finish more. This year's goal is manageable - 4 episodes.

Learn Japanese: I just think it's a neat language. Maybe one day I'll visit Japan; there's so much I want to see there. I know that seems like a far flung dream right now, but life happens fast.

Work out more: not much to say here, I just need to keep up this habit and push myself harder to build strength.

Get my driver's license: I've almost always lived in areas where I've just never needed to drive, but now that my sister has her's I feel like it's finally time to check this box lol.

Make more money: it's getting harder and harder to keep things afloat (as I'm sure is news to absolutely nobody) even with my pretty decent full time job. I'm assuming I won't get a raise, and also hoping I won't get laid off, but even still I need to get some sort of consistent side hustle doing web design or something similar.

God this really seems like a lot when I write them all down... I'm going to stick to them though. I probably won't kick all of these off at once just to not burn myself out, but I'm gonna do them all.

I really can't live without being able to set goals and make progress on them anymore, even if the progress is slow, even if things slide backwards or I fall off for months or years. I lived with soul crushing suicidal depression for so long and it really made it difficult to believe that my life was worth living or that it was worth investing in my skills or my future. I know a lot of people still think that way and I'm not the best at helping them, and that what worked for me doesn't work for everyone. But seasons change, wounds heal, and in the end, it's always worth it to invest your time in bettering yourself and to keep moving ahead.

Man, I don't know where the fuck I was going with all that but I'm leaving it in. Also why the hell am I writing this long ass post... I barely post here anymore. Anyway fuck it I'm gonna try to sleep AGAIN wish me luck at work in... 2 and a half hours. Happy new year ya filthy animals.

[manonamora-if]

December Check-In

I promise I didn't almost forget :P Even if I definitely forgot to do the weekly devlog last Sunday... To be fair, it had been a week...

Recap of last month’s progress

IF Events in the Next Month

Plan for the next month

Still long post ahead. If you want a mini version, head over to itch.io!

November Progress

Still play more IF and maybe review. ✅

Finish the edits of Harcourt Ch5 ✅❌

Fix one of the semi-completed games: ❌either the Egg parser or TRNT (and make it a proper parser)

Finish that darn SugarCube Guide: ❌there aren’t much left in the guide to cover, but there are a few things to fix.

Again, I knocked the first one out of the park. I reviewed all inkJam, EctoComp, and Bare-Bones Jam entries (which helped me get on the main page of the IFDB). It was nice to play shorter games again - it makes reviewing pretty quick... Now that the IFComp is also over, I kind of want to go back and check out the entries I didn't manage to play.

As for the rest... It's been a bit of a hell of a month, and it's not looking like it's ending any time soon. Still, when I had some free time I managed to:

Finish my portion of the edits of Harcourt (and MelS was almost done with it... before he ran into computer problems - dw the file is safe!)

Assess the damage with The Roads Not Taken and come up with a plan to fix all of it. I also started on this one, but there is truly a lot of damage.

Make a bite game in binksi, Tower of Sleep, for the Two-Button Jam

Make a One-Button prototype, Don't press the Button, to test some JavaScript/jQuery (half-failure)

Make a zine for the first time: An Ode to Pissaladière

Make a new code template: the Character Creator

Submitted a bunch of seeds to the SeedComp!

Does it look like I got distracted by a shiny new thing instead of finishing my projects? Yes. Do I care? Nope. It brought me some joy and amusement in some weird months... Banging your head against the desk because code is not working is... not, obviously.

What’s happening in December?

A bunch of jams are happening on itch, because end of year means maybe some free time, and also, you might as well do something for the sake of saying you've made something.

The ShuffleComp (@neointeractives) has started, though the entries won't be available before January. You can listen to the kickass full playlist in the meantime!

The Sprouting Round of the SeedComp! (@seedcomp-if) has just started. There are 99 new seeds available for use to make a game! Deadline is March 1st.

The Deck-Month has just started, to make a game with Decker.

The PunyJam #4 ends in about 2 weeks (if you have the time to learn Inform w/ the Puny extension...)

and of course: la Partim 500 numéro 8, for those who want to do the Neo Twiny again... but French!

I'm probably gonna pop-off a Partim. I did it last year and it was fun :P

The PLANtm for December

December is a busy month for me, which includes a lot of time offline, full days travelling, and lots of planning. So I will take any free time I have and do fun stuff if I can!

But if I have space for IF, I'd like to:

Play more games! Well... I already am, just not really IF. My Steam Library is crying for attention. I would like to knock down maybe a dozen more IFComp entries if I can. There were a lot of good games, a lot of loooong games.

Code Ch5 of Harcourt. That will be MelS dependent - well, MelS's computer dependent...

Finish fixing The Roads Not Taken. I have a plan, I have the notes... I just need to sit down and re-code (and re-test).

Finish the Guide for real! I know SugarCube 2.37 is coming soon, which will affect the state of some pages (and maybe require more pages). BUT I've been working on fixing old pages (typos - re-explanation - clearer examples). So, this is likely to be done sooner rather than later...

~

Taking the list of TO-DO from August…

To-Do not require much of new stuff:

translate Escape Goncharov! into French. ✅

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (ongoing - translation unlikely)

fix the formatting of DOL-OS + translate into English ✅

update LPM with the missing content + translate into English ✅

No change this month :/

The rest of the To-Do pile was:

Finish The Rye in the Dark City (and maybe translate?)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (and try to translate)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (translation unlikely, current gameplay too complex to port for French)

Add a chapter to CRWL + fix/reopen the blog

Re-working TTTT to its originally planned state (lol, not likety)

Re-working SPS Iron Hammer (samesies)

Coding TTATEH (MelS dependent - shooting for end of year)

Emptying my inboxes (they are not all answered tho)

Honestly, this pile probably won’t get done this year…. Maybe TTATEH has a shot...

[leatherbookmark]

another thing is that like. s1 wasn't the most brilliant thing in the whole universe but it did have a slowly progressing community plot. in the first episode, the crew's plotting to kill stede off, in episode 3 jim says he's the worst captain ever, but by episode 9 they've all grown to like him at least a bit, and so they confirm that he absolutely is a real pirate, eligible to use the act of grace, and they even do the talk it through as a crew thing. very cute!

and then s2 just... kindasorta... does... nothing... with that? sure, the crews get separated, they earned some trauma, but it's a comedy series and surely they can get over it and be one crew together again, right? look, half of the crew stays with stede even though they could have just left him -- he has nothing to offer them, after all -- the other half misses the life on the old revenge, then everyone's working with stede to take the revenge back, they're coming back home! they unionize (lol) against stede in ep4 to banish ed because he makes them feel unsafe, then in ep5 to make stede get rid of that awful cursed suit! in ep6, they have a big fun party!

eeeeexcept the swede just leaves without a second thought, and after he's gone no one misses him. buttons gets roach going "did he really turn into a bird or did you kill him", but that's it, no one misses him either and no one really notices they've lost two crew members in a couple of days. when a character is absent because their actor is absent, no one really goes "hey, where's X?", no one really notices that, so we have not one but two annoying examples of "wow, i was doing X and i missed all this stuff!" (lucius+pete and fang). olu, jim and archie are totally up for leaving stede's crew to join zheng yi sao for... no reason whatsoever. i've seen meta that it's because they don't feel comfortable on the ship or don't trust ed anymore, or have enough of stede's 15 minutes of fame, but like, is it text that this is the reason why they're leaving, or just something you as a fan figured out because you actively tried to find an explanation? sure, the crew wasn't a big fan of ed's apology, but did anyone protest very much, aside from lucius? not really. no one tried to get him to leave, no one avoided him during the party, the animosity, if it was there, just wasn't shown.

and now, in episode 8, well. everyone knows what happened in episode 8.

i'm kinda laughing bitterly here, because i made a post about how what izzy's done to the crew wasn't that much worse than what the crew do to each other, and does it mean they're not a good crew and don't care about each other?, no!, it means we're in a workplace comedy and everyone's a bit of an asshole! except. except i was kind of right, because the crew just goes and falls apart and it's barely noticeable, like they weren't a crew in the first place. it's not even sad, it doesn't have a reason, they just scatter around -- whether it's an actor wanting out, or scheduling conflicts, or money issues, i don't know, or the writers needing something that would piss stede off enough to challenge zheng yi sao to a stupid duel. the reviews and reactions to ep 6 were all wow, so moving, so euphoric, a love letter to the queer community, and it's like, a what to what. where. i don't see anything.

i've no idea, maybe djenks really looked at this episode and thought oh yeah, this is a good save point before s3, if we get renewed we can work from here, if we don't it's still a nice ending, but it's literally not in both cases. if it's an ending, it sucks. if it's a middle point, i don't actually want a s3 because the community is not a thing, my favourite little guy was killed off in the stupidest way possible, and the mains got the ending that i thought would never happen since s1, because it's too easy, too utopian, and besides it was obvious that the inn thing was only ed's escapist fantasy and he needs to find himself and what he really wants just like stede. ha. haha. ha.

i don't really care about this show anymore in the form it is now is the thing.

[erebosblue]

welcome to literally I haven't even finished a fic for this fandom yet and I'm gonna yell into the void about a ship anyway.

I do not understand why Yatoma is a rarepair?????

sure sure Kaz, (just get used to me calling him Kaz that's what I default to at this point,) is canonically in love with Bishamon and Yato and Hiyori are love interests even if I don't like that ship. but like??? when has that ever stopped shippers before?

I do like Bishamon and Kaz in a lot of ways, but y'all are sleeping on Yatoma and I will not let that stand.

(also: I am pretty aware of what happens in the manga but I'm still catching up so pardon mistakes I'm just silly little guy with Opinions.™️)

Yato and Kaz is such a beautiful and tragic love story. even more so than the other ships that involve either one of them.

Kaz is a guy who's loyal to a fault. he will do anything in his power to keep those he loves safe and this often works to his detriment. he's betrayed Bishamon multiple times because he wants to protect her. Kaz will do anything and everything to save his loved ones no matter what happens to him.

he gets killed? fine by him.

he becomes a Nora? as long as Veena has justice, he will do it. he will beg for it.

Kaz's extreme loyalty can even make him seem untrustworthy in a divine sense of irony. not just when it's being used against him for a plan to kill Bishamon.

Kaz's loyalty is something that can only end in pain for him because he just doesn't value himself. he is a tool to help his God(s) and nothing more.

and then there's Yato. someone can seem extremely noncommittal not by choice, but by circumstance. because the thing is, once you have a place in Yato's heart, he doesn't want to let go.

but he is forced to over and over again. he is forced to release Shinki because they think he's unreliable because he just dips sometimes and no one knows why.

he cares so deeply about the people close to him but it doesn't seem that way because

he doesn't know how to properly communicate that and

he keeps everything close to his chest out of fear.

Yato would do fucking anything to keep everyone safe and even die for them even though he is terrified about ceasing to exist.

Kaz is ready to die because he thinks that it's just the natural progression of his use and Yato is ready to die because he thinks it's the one good thing he can do.

but that's not quite it. Yato didn't want to die, he was trying to get his name out there so that he wouldn't die, but once it became clear there was no time, he accepted death because killing Father means more that continued existence.

this could be false, but just from what I've seen and been able to read between the lines of, Yato was always going to kill Father once he realized that he wanted to be better after Sakura, but he didn't want to die and never come back.

it was a waiting game. one that Father won out because Yato's name is still unknown.

but Yato is okay with that as long as he's free for maybe just a minute and everyone else is safe. everyone that made him truly happy.

okay, okay, but why does any of that mean Kaz and Yato are a good ship?

because they are tragically similar and drawn to each other.

Yato was Kaz's beginning and Kaz is Yato's end. Yato is the reason why Kaz is a Blessed Vessel and Kaz is what allowed Yato to go on the suicide mission that is fighting Father.

Yato is a God that barely feels like a God with all the chains around him. how little he was allowed to know. how much of his life was determined by a man that should, by all means, be beneath him but isn't.

Kaz is a Shinki that keeps falling in love with Gods (/p or /r) and is hurdling towards self-destruction as he tries to keep all his loyalties in order. a Shinki that has much more power of his Gods than any Shinki should. because Bishamon is emotionally reliant on him and Yato needs/needed him to protect him. (I'm not saying Kaz is manipulative. he's not.)

Yato and Kaz are God and Shinki in labels but reading their interactions it never feels like that typical master-Shinki relationship because it's not. they never have been that and never will be.

Kaz demeans his own feelings because "Gods can never love humans" and Yato does because he's afraid.

Kazune and Kazuma are distinctly different because Yato brings out a piece of Kaz that is much less strict and more,,, human. Bishamon and Kaz are always going to be limited by the fact that Kaz views her as above him. sure, he views Yato as above him too, but it's a lot less blatant. he talks to Yato with an ease that we don't see a lot.

Kaz is a very deliberate man. he rarely talks without purpose and intent. his words have to mean something for him to say anything. but it's different with Yato because they are different together.

Yukine might be Yato's guidepost and Blessed Vessel, but Yato is too parental over him to do some of the things he does with Kaz. because Kaz is his friend. not his kid.

this is getting way too long, but I just have a lot to say okay?

Yato and Kaz are the definition of Star-Crossed Lovers because no matter what they will end up apart. Kaz's first loyalty is to Bishamon and Yato was always going to die trying to be free. they're God and Shinki. two Noras (I'm counting Yato as something like a Nora,) fighting back against someone who hurt them and then they will separate. back to their true masters. Bishamon and lady death herself.

[fictionplumis]

Some progress has been made!

I saw a Cardiologist yesterday and almost broke my "did not cry during a doctor's appointment" streak. (We are up to 3 now, woot!)

So basically, my heart is doing one of two things. Either it's going, "I need to emulate my hero and savior Sonic the Hedgehog," and is always beating so fast for no legitimate reason. Like with POTS. Or it's going, "Oh shit, this place is fucked, I gotta beat faster to make sure all the blood goes to the right places." This would be my heart reacting to another factor in the body and feeling like it's necessary to speed up, like if I had some underlying rheumatalogical condition.

I already knew things like POTS could really fuck up your system, and I've never been officially diagnosed but I've been pretty sure I've had it since high school, when I mentioned to my mom that I get tunnel vision everytime I stand up and she immediately took me to get an MRI. I didn't think it would make just existing doing the bare minimum to live such a hell.

Anyway, he's putting me on meds to slow my heart down. Either these meds will work and I'll feel weird for a bit and then start feeling better as my body adjusts, meaning it IS my heart deciding to go 130 BMP for funsies while I'm doing literally nothing, or the meds will work but I'll feel much, much worse because my heart does, in fact, need to go that fast because this place is fucked.

And by this place, I mean my body.

Now, he did mention working out! He explained that he would usually start treatments for something like this without medication first, but unlike the rheumatologist, he took my struggles seriously and said that since simple, daily tasks are such a struggle, and my heart rate is so high at rest, the medication needs to come first so I can get to the point that I CAN start low effort physical therapy.

He also asked if I had researched my symptoms online and if there was anything I've found or heard of that I felt matched my symptoms best, which god fucking bless dude, that's one hell of a green flag for a doctor.

The hardest part about dealing with doctors for me is that I have this defense mechanism where I am "an open book" and speak honestly and openly about my struggles, but in a very friendly and humorous tone. Like, "I'm so emotionally exhausted that I can't concentrate on much anymore. I've beaten Baldur's Gate like twelve times because I know everything that happens and it's low effort now. I'm so tired of playing Baldur's Gate, man." It's true! My tone usually implies humor and a joke, and I guess that makes people go, "Oh, things are difficult for her but she's okay enough to make light of them."

And I don't know how to not do that?

Even the nice doctors that took me "seriously" still didn't seem to quite understand the full scope of me saying, "I haven't left the house for eight months for anything but doctor's appointments. I haven't seen my friends in eight months. My family goes to eat dinner without me and brings me home lukewarm, soggy food in a takeout container. I've had to stop my sewing projects because my arm gets tired so quick holding down a sewing pattern that I can't trace around it without taking a break, and then the pattern gets misaligned and I get frustrated and start crying. I'm on antidepressants because I can't do any of my hobbies, I have nothing to distract me from this hell where simply reaching up for a cup in the cabinet feels like a herculean task, my room is a mess because I can't clean it up, and I was crying three to four times a day. Now I only cry once or twice a week. I am scared, and lonely, and everyone in my house works full time so it's hard for them to help, and I try not to ask them for much. When I do need to ask for help, I often spend a few hours having an anxiety attack before working up the nerve, and if they say no, I feel guilty for immediately bursting into tears over it and making them feel bad about it. My hair looks awful because I usually keep it short but I can't go through the effort of getting dressed and leaving the house for a haircut, so I took a pair of scissors to it in a Britney Spears style meltdown and you know what? She had the right idea!"

I guess something in my tone just implies hyperbole? Or maybe I don't come across as distressed enough while saying it, so they think it can't be possibly be this awful, life-ruining thing? Unfortunately, breaking down crying doesn't convince them either, I've tried that already. So IDK how to get doctors to understand what I'm feeling.

This guy, though?

I front of his two student shadows, this motherfucker, who is the softest spoken person I've ever met, by the way, leans over his knees and looks me dead in the eye to say, "I want you to know that you're an amazing person. I can't imagine the kind of strength it takes to deal with this for as long as you have with no answers, and still be pushing yourself to come to appointments like this when everything is so difficult for you. If this is cardiac related, I want you to know that we're going to figure this out and get you back out there in the world. At your age, you should be out with your friends, having fun and living your life, not isolated and struggling like this. Do you have a support group? Who all is in it?"

Man. There is something about sincere compassion and genuine concern that hits right to the core, and I could barely keep myself from bursting into tears.

For all my jaded bullshit with the doctors and the American medical system, sometimes you end up finding a gem.

So either these new pills will work and in the next couple of months I can start a long path to recovery, or they won't but I'll be able to tell every other specialist I see that we 100% know my fast heart rate is a symptom of something else, not everything else being a symptom of a cardiac issue.

[gamebird]

About a month ago, I read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' based on a recommendation from a friend. It had some good points and bad ones.

Good points:

It is super important for me to have discussions with my kids about how to handle money, what their options are with the money I've given them, and what that means for standard of living, activities, etc.

It is very important in people's lives to have someone advising them about money, instead of just leaving them to fend for themselves and figure it out on their own.

If you already have money (like tens or hundreds of thousands of unencumbered cash), then there are a lot of relatively low risk, low labor means to put that money to work for you and generate income. It's a lot less tedious than, say, working for a living. But you have to have the money FIRST.

The various principles laid out in the book caused me to move my money around. Now instead of retiring in 4 years and leaving nothing to my kids in inheritance unless I died early, because I'd need everything to fund my retirement, I'm going to retire end of next year and leave millions, assuming I live that long. And if I don't, then there will still be a nest egg. Same standard of living for me either way.

Bad points:

Gotdamn does this guy undersell how hard it is to get your hands on enough money to start with to do this. It takes generations and he doesn't acknowledge that.

He also undersells the value and rarity of someone giving you good advice at every turn, feeding you opportunities, and picking you up when you fall ... and never victimizing or abusing you in the process.

He makes almost no mention of the severe adversities many people find in their lives, like chronic health problems, useless or abusive partners, addiction, expensive hobbies, terrible families, bad luck, accidents, legal problems, and the like. Some of these you have a little control over; a lot of them you don't; and even with barely controllable things like partners and family you don't know its bad until its already bad and its not exactly too late at that point, but it really sucks.

So anyway, I tried to get my kids to listen to the audiobook. No dice. I found it on YouTube for free. No doing. I bought the guy's Cashflow board game. Huzzah! They played it a couple times. This let us talk about things. (I mean, I'd already tried talking to them, but trying to discuss the relative merits of savings account vs t-bills vs etfs was not making much progress.)

We talked about:

What's a mortgage and why can't I just be homeless and not pay that

Why are my expenses so high

Why are children expensive

Why do I have to pay for a loan (I was surprised and shocked they only barely understood interest rates. My inability to communicate effectively about investments made sense now. I have failed as a parent. But I'm trying to fix it.) also: why is a credit score important

What the fuck why does this boat cost so damn much?!? (the boat is the most expensive piece of shit doodad you can get saddled with in the game; I talked to them about the dangers of expensive hobbies)

OH MY FUCKING GOD I ONLY MISSED ONE PAYCHECK AND I AM RUINED (because ... yeah. that's real)

What does 'yield' mean

What's a trading range

And a bunch of other things. I also talked to them about the things the game does not include, those things I mentioned earlier like accidents, addictions, lawsuits, and health problems, or the same happening to anyone you financially support or feel beholden to, like a partner or child or possibly parent. I talked to them about the mentality of 'my savings always gets wasted on emergencies so why bother having any', which is valid and real, as well as a rational reaction to a maddingly irrational situation.

An interesting thing about the game - there's no rule for or against giving money to each other. And it makes a huge difference in propelling someone from the rat race stage of the game where you're working for a living and into the cashflow part of the game where your money is working for you instead. In the two games we played, I ended up ahead early each time (half of this I credit to good decisions while my kids were making dumb ones, even after I told them they were dumb choices; half was probably luck). But each time once I had my position secured, I started giving wads of cash to them and it was remarkable how much that improved their situation.

Kind of like real life.

I also read Bullshit Jobs a couple weeks ago and it ends with a lovely piece about the social value of universal basic income. Which, yeah. We need to do that.